San Jose, California Trash Pickup Schedule & Recycling Rules

States & Cities › California › San Jose

• Who collects: City of San José Environmental Services (Recycle Plus), through contracted companies that differ by neighborhood, for homes, townhomes and mobile home parks; GreenTeam of San José serves apartments and condos; Recycle Plus residential services ↗
• Your pickup day: depends on your address; Residential Services Lookup ↗ or My Collection Schedule in the San José 311 app
• Holiday changes: collection runs on every holiday except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day, which push the rest of that week one day later; Collection & Setouts ↗
• Missed pickup: if carts are not emptied by 6 p.m., report it through San José 311 ↗, 3-1-1 or (408) 535-3500
• Contact: 3-1-1 or (408) 535-3500 (TTY 800-735-2922), ZeroWaste@sanjoseca.gov
• Official website: City of San José Environmental Services: Recycling & Garbage for Residents ↗

San Jose trash pickup is run by the City of San José’s Recycle Plus program: contracted companies collect garbage, recycling and yard trimmings once a week between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., and which companies serve you depends on your neighborhood. Find your day in the Residential Services Lookup or San José 311. What trips people up most: there is no food scraps cart, so food and food-soiled paper, pizza boxes included, go in the garbage.

Photo: Downtown San Jose skyline across the Santa Clara Valley. Michael from San Jose, California, USA, 2009-01-09. CC BY 2.0 · Source. Resized for web.

San Jose trash and recycling pickup schedule

Collection runs Monday to Friday, once a week per stream, between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., with automated trucks. The city’s lookup names the company for each service at your address:

• Carts: homes, townhomes and mobile homes use a black garbage cart of 32, 64 or 96 gallons; larger service levels, up to 224 gallons, combine carts. The recycling cart comes in 32, 64 or 96 gallons at no extra charge. Apartments and condos share green garbage bins.
• Set-out: carts out by 6 a.m. on collection day and no earlier than the day before, side by side in the street, 2 feet apart, wheels against the curb, lids fully closed. Keep them 5 feet from parked cars, yard trimmings piles and basketball hoops, and out of bike lanes. Short on curb space? Put carts in front of your driveway.
• Weight limits: 100 pounds for a 32-gallon cart, 175 for 64 gallons, 250 for 96 gallons, and 60 for an extra garbage bag. Drivers cannot empty heavier carts.
• Extra garbage: single-family homes put it in a 32-gallon bag with a $7.00 extra garbage sticker, sold at San José libraries, Lucky and Safeway stores and the City Hall cashier window.
• Extra recycling is unlimited: set it beside the cart in paper bags or clear plastic bags. Flatten cardboard; if it does not fit, cut it to 4 by 4 feet or smaller and lean it against the cart.
• Used motor oil and filters (single-family homes only): put oil jugs and filter bags on the curb next to your carts. Order jugs and bags through 311 or your recycling company.

Businesses are served by Republic Services, the city’s exclusive commercial franchise hauler. Residential streets are swept once a month, between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the day after garbage collection; move your car by 6 a.m.

What goes in the San Jose recycling cart

Put recyclables in the cart loose, empty and scraped: no food, no liquid. The city’s SanJoseRecycles.org ↗ looks up single items, and the chasing arrows on a label do not decide it.

• Yes: plastics #1 to #5 and #7, such as bottles, jugs, tubs, cups, clamshells, plastic takeout containers, plastic egg cartons, frozen food trays, plastic toys, laundry baskets and nursery pots; cardboard, office paper, junk mail, magazines, newspapers, books, paper bags, paperboard, wrapping paper and shredded paper; milk and juice cartons, Tetra Pak cartons and boxed wine; aluminum and metal cans, foil and foil trays, empty paint cans, cookware, keys and scrap metal; glass bottles and jars, even broken ones.
• No: #6 plastic and anything labeled compostable; plastic bags and film (take them to a store drop-off); recyclables tied up in a bag; food-soiled paper, napkins, paper cups, pizza boxes and wax- or plastic-lined takeout boxes; drinking glasses, Pyrex, window and mirror glass; clothing and textiles; yard trimmings; bulky items; batteries, electronics with built-in batteries, paint, motor oil and aerosol cans.

Since March 2024, City staff lift single-family recycling cart lids on collection mornings, 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., and leave “Good Job” or “Oops” tags. Tags carry no fine and tagged carts are still emptied, unless staff see hazardous waste; then the collector may leave a Non-Collection Notice. The city found 57% of single-family recycling was not recyclable in 2022 and 41% in 2024. A contaminated recycling cart can cost $15 per incident per cart.

Yard waste and food scraps

San Jose has no food scraps cart for residents. All garbage goes to the GreenWaste materials recovery facility, which pulls out food scraps and food-soiled paper for composting, so food and food-soiled items belong in the garbage, never in yard trimmings piles or carts.

Yard trimmings are collected weekly from homes, mobile home parks and participating apartments and condos, either loose in the street at no extra charge or in an optional yard trimmings cart for $7.76 a month (order from GreenWaste Recovery at (408) 283-4800).

• Piles no bigger than 5 by 5 feet, at least 1 foot from the curb and 5 feet from carts, cars and other piles.
• Branches under 5 feet long and under 6 inches across.
• Out no more than 24 hours ahead and by 6 a.m. Keep piles and carts out of bike lanes and red curbs, and do not park on them.
• Sweep up what is left after collection and save it for next week. Where loose piles are not possible, such as streets with bike lanes, the city notifies residents of another method.

Christmas trees: last season, trees went out on the regular collection day from December 26, 2025 through January 30, 2026, cut into 5-foot pieces with stands, tinsel and decorations removed. Apartment managers arrange tree pickup with GreenWaste at 408-283-4800.

Bulk trash pickup in San Jose

San Jose calls it Junk Pickup. It is free for owners and renters in single-family homes and multi-family complexes, with no limit on the number of appointments, and each request can include up to 12 items. Items must come from your residence.

• Book at 311.SanJoseCA.gov ↗, in the San José 311 app, by dialing 3-1-1 or at (408) 535-3500. Appointments fall on your regular collection day. A separate confirmation email with the appointment date and set-out instructions arrives within two business days, apart from the automated 311 email.
• Set out no more than 24 hours ahead, in the street next to the curb, not in a red zone, at a hydrant or beside a parked car. Keep items 3 feet from everything else, not leaning or stacked. Early or improper set-out can mean no pickup or a citation for illegal dumping.
• Taken: furniture, mattresses and box springs (laid flat, no bed bugs, mold or feces), refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers and stoves (empty, doors taped, no commercial units), drained water heaters, TVs, boxed computers and small electronics (60 pounds per box), carpet rolled to 6 by 2 feet, and passenger car and pickup tires, each tire one item.
• Refused: glass and mirrors, construction debris, hazardous waste, items with bed bugs, central air conditioners and heating units, and grand pianos. Bundles are limited to 5 by 2 feet and 60 pounds.

Apartment and condo residents book through their property manager or GreenTeam of San José at (408) 282-4400. When a new mattress is delivered, California law requires the retailer to offer to take back the old one at no extra cost.

San Jose holiday trash schedule

Garbage, recycling and yard trimmings are collected on every holiday except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. When one of those falls Monday to Friday, collection runs one day later for the rest of that week. Set carts and piles out by 6 a.m.

Hazardous waste, electronics and drop-off sites

Household hazardous waste goes to the free County of Santa Clara Household Hazardous Waste Program, by appointment only. Book at hhw.santaclaracounty.gov ↗ or (408) 299-7300. The drop-off address comes with the appointment. Bring proof of residency, load the waste in the trunk, truck bed or rear of the vehicle, leave pets at home and arrive on time; more than 15 minutes late may be turned away. State law caps each vehicle at 15 gallons of liquids or 125 pounds of solids, in containers of 5 gallons or less.

• San Jose permanent facility (East San Jose): by appointment, on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays in most weeks; the County shows the open dates when you book and closes the facility on holiday weeks.
• San Martin permanent facility: by appointment on the dates the County posts.
• Temporary events: the County also holds one-day collection events in other cities, posted with their dates on its household hazardous waste page.
• Taken: paint, automotive fluids, batteries, electronics, fluorescent and LED bulbs, cleaners, garden chemicals and pesticides, pool chemicals, propane and helium tanks, smoke detectors, mercury thermostats, solar panels (up to 20), and asbestos double-bagged at no more than 50 pounds a bag.
• Elsewhere: ammunition and fireworks go to the Sheriff at (408) 299-2622 or local police, medicines and sharps to MED-Project kiosks. Treated wood is not accepted.

Treated wood goes to one of three county landfills; the one in San Jose is Guadalupe Recycling & Disposal Facility, 15999 Guadalupe Mines Road, San Jose, CA 95120, (408) 268-1670. Electronics can also go to an e-waste recycler, and TVs and computers go free on a Junk Pickup. The county’s drop-off locations page ↗ links to finders for battery and bulb, motor oil, paint and appliance drop-offs.

Fees and billing

Garbage service is mandatory, and the owner pays even when a home is vacant. Single-family charges appear on the Santa Clara County secured property tax bill. The garbage fee covers recycling, loose yard trimmings and Junk Pickup; the county HHW program costs nothing extra.

• On-premise collection from the side or back of the house adds $108.94 a month. Disabled on-premise collection costs the standard rate for households where every resident has an ongoing disability, with a physician’s certification and yearly review.
• Extra garbage sticker $7.00; yard trimmings cart $7.76 a month; cart size exchange $15 after the first one each fiscal year; lost or stolen cart replacement free; repeated cart requests or cart abuse $60 plus the cart’s cost.
• Apartments and condos with shared bins are billed monthly to the owner or property manager.

Missed pickup, damaged carts and new carts

If your garbage, recycling or yard trimmings are not picked up by 6 p.m. on collection day, report it through San José 311 ↗, by dialing 3-1-1 or at (408) 535-3500. Carts set out after the truck passed are collected on your next collection day. Use 311 as well for lost, stolen or damaged carts, a different cart size, or an oil jug or filter bag; for anything else, call your collection company. Apartment and condo residents take service problems to their property manager.

Set-out rules and fines

The city enforces its solid waste code (Municipal Code Chapter 9.10). Report early set-out of carts or yard trimmings piles, overflowing containers, improper cart storage, leaking containers or unauthorized hauling to WasteEnforcement@sanjoseca.gov or (408) 535-8550. Overflowing carts are not collected. Report illegal dumping for cleanup through 311 at (408) 535-3500.

Materials with their own rules

• Mattresses: free on a Junk Pickup, laid flat and covered if rain is expected; retailers must offer take-back when delivering a new one.
• Household hazardous waste: county drop-off by appointment only, with the address sent after booking.
• Lithium-ion batteries: never in any cart; batteries or devices with built-in batteries in a recycling cart can bring a Non-Collection Notice.
• Paint: liquid paint goes to county HHW; empty paint cans are on the city’s recycling list.
• Pizza boxes: garbage, not recycling, in San Jose.
• Christmas trees: curbside on your regular day in the post-Christmas window, in 5-foot pieces.
• Tires: passenger car and pickup truck tires on a Junk Pickup, up to 60 pounds each.
• Aerosol cans and propane tanks: aerosol cans stay out of the recycling cart, and the County says empty ones may go in the trash; propane tanks go to county HHW.

More in California

• California trash and recycling rules
• Glendora trash pickup
• Los Angeles trash pickup
• San Diego trash pickup
• San Francisco trash pickup
• Holiday changes by city
• Bulk pickup rules by city
• Missed pickup contacts by city
• Drop-off locations by city